Inch by Inch

Just checking in with a little update.  On Friday we received our finished home study in the mail.  After we received word from our home study agency that it was done, a draft was sent to our adoption agency for approval.   There were a few items that needed to be edited/corrected and then St. Mary's (our adoption agency) attached some documents that made it officially complete.    All told, it took us about 3 1/2 months from the time we signed our agreement with the home study agency, to when it was finalized and in our hands, ready for the next step.  We had wonderful social workers and a great local company, two thumb's up for Adoption Home Study Services of Ohio!     This process also further solidified my confidence in St. Mary's, they made sure every page was perfect. 
The timing was good because it has allowed us to start applying for grants over the long weekend.  We submitted an application for Show Hope, and will apply for several others too.   In all honesty, it is a lot of work.   Melanie was gracious enough to give me some advice about it, she said once you apply for one grant, most of the information is the same, so you just fill in the blanks and keep your previous info ready to go.   They were blessed with a few approvals, so I am encouraged by that and  hopeful it will be worth it.

Next on the list is sending in our I800A form.  It's ready to go and will be in the mail this week!   Not sure what to expect with that (time-wise) but hopefully they will process our forms without any touble and send our date/location for fingerprints.

As we change seasons, I keep wondering what we will be doing next year at this time?  It seems like (from reading other blogs) that the process is beginning to hit it's stride (since the new Hague guidelines came out) and it's becoming a more well-oiled machine in terms of turnaround times for documents, referrals, and court dates in Poland.  I don't mean to generalize because I know that is not always the case, but I think overall it seems like things have been more efficient, which is exciting!   
Last night my dad took us to a University of Akron football game.  As we were watching the sights and sounds, I thought about our daughter (s) and wonder if they will be in gymnastics?  Maybe a cheerleader?  Although, with three brothers and and an Army veteran daddy, she might be a tom-boy instead!    Either way, I can't wait for the adventure to begin.  What a gift it will be to get to know her interests and help her find her strengths and thrive.    Here is a photo from the game last night.  Garrett (our youngest) is in a camera-shy mode.  He may not be looking, but at least we got a smile out of him. :)

 
Will write with another update, hopefully soon.  Off to apply for more grants!:)